The former. Gerg’s interpretation is about the map and the terrain, and it seems to me that “the actual codebase in its practical usage” associates closely with “the terrain”, while “ideas/predictions about what would make the API more elegant” associates closely with “the map”.
Tovalds doesn’t have direct access to the reality of his users, but he does have direct access to the code they use.
The former. Gerg’s interpretation is about the map and the terrain, and it seems to me that “the actual codebase in its practical usage” associates closely with “the terrain”, while “ideas/predictions about what would make the API more elegant” associates closely with “the map”.
Tovalds doesn’t have direct access to the reality of his users, but he does have direct access to the code they use.